Sambal Ketuk (Again)

When I made this previously (see here) was with peanuts added but skipped peanuts this time. Recipe previously taken from Nor's (Tganu).

Roughly here how to make this:  

1 handful ikan bilis, 3 Green Chilies, Cilipadi (amount up to your taste), 1 cm belacan, Salt & Sugar.
Fry each ingredients separately.

Pound/machine all together....ready!

Sambal Ketuk

Kelmarin jalan2 jumpa Sambal Ketuk ni tapi tak ingat rumah sape sbb byk sgt bertandang. Tapi yg Along ingat katanya respi amik rumah Nor. So, arini Along pun selongkar gerobok Nor, jumpa lah resipi sempoi ni. Tak pernah dengo pun nama gini, so kita pun cuba lah tapi modified campur kcg tanah. Rasanya sungguh sedap. My hubby & son pun suka. TQ ya Nor. Dua-tiga hari ni asyik angkut dari rumah Nor jer...hehe

Resipi agak2 je:
1 genggam kcg tanah, 1 genggam ikan bilis, 3 biji cili hijau, cilipadi (ikut selera pedas nak bubuh byk mana), seketul belacan, garam & gula.
Goreng bahan2 satu-persatu. Pas tu tumbuk/mesin semua sekali. Siap!

The Making of Cencaluk

Miri is famous with its shrimp-based products like Cencaluk, Belacan and dried shrimps. Miri is surrounded by beach and blessed with seasonal shrimp flows and hence not surprising that most locals make their own Belacan & Cencaluk. Me too, does not want to be left out...! I learned making it from my sis-in law few years back. A couple of weeks ago when I saw fresh shrimps sold along the beach, just thought of making it again.

Wanna try making your own Cencaluk? Here it is:

INGREDIENTS:
1 kg Fresh Shrimps
3 handful Sugar
1 handful Salt

METHOD:
1. Mix all ingredients.
Keep in a clean & covered jar & leave it for 4-5 days.
Stir every other day to ensure even fermentation.

2. To serve, mix with lime juice, Chili Padi & Onion.

Sambal Ikan Bilis Cili Padi

To accompany the Mixed Soup, I made this hot sambal - inspired from Hana's home. However, unlike Hana's sambal which was green, mine became red because of color of my Cili Padis. I also shortcut the method i.e. fry them all at one go instead of fry each ingredients separately & pound last (lazy......hehe). This is real good ...!

This time I just pasted her recipe here, if anyone needs translation, just shout.

Bahan-bahan
20 biji cili api (digoreng)
2 ulas bawang putih (digoreng)
1 biji bawang besar
segenggam ikan bilis (digoreng)
secubit garam
2 biji limau kasturi

Cara-cara
Tumbuk cili api, bawang putih dan bawang besar bersama sedikit garam
Masukkan ikan bilis, gaulkan dgn sudu, hancur2kan sedikit
Perahkan limau kasturi, sedia utk dihidangkan :)

Fried Sambal Tempoyak (Fermented Durian)

Whilst children had their chicken for lunch, I had my favourite choice too. I never came accross fried Tempoyak in my hometown in Perak although Tempoyak is very famous there. However, in Sarawak this is a very common way of serving Tempoyak with rice, which I have been accustomed to.

INGREDIENTS:
4 tbsp Tempoyak
1 Red Chilli - pounded
½ Big Onion*
5 Chilli Padi* (* sliced)
3 tbsp Ikan Bilis (Anchovies)
Cooking Oil

METHOD:
1. Heat up 2 tbsp oil & fry sliced ingredients and Ikan Bilis until crispy.
Add in pounded chilli & fry for a while.
Add in Tempoyak & fry for another 2 minutes.

2. Dish up & serve with rice and hot deep fried fish.

Asam Sauce ( Air Asam )

Asam Sauce or known as Air Asam is a popoular Malay sauce for fish dip. Made this today to go with grilled Terubuk (Longtail Shad).

INGREDIENTS:

½ Big Onion*

10 tiny Chilli Padi*

1 Kasturi Lime*

½ Tomato* (* chopped)

1 tsp Belachan

1 tsp Adabi Xtra Asam Jawa (Tamarind paste)

1/4 cup Drinking Water

Salt & Sugar

Mix them all.

Sambal Belacan Bertomato

Another version of Sambal Belacan herewith, which is suitable as dipping sauce with fried brinjals and boiled spinach.

INGREDIENTS:
1 Tomato
3 Red Chillies
Few Chilli Padi - adjust to your taste for mild to hot
1 tbsp Belachan - grilled
2-3 Kasturi Lime
Salt & Sugar

METHOD:
1. Prick tomato & place in a covered container & micowave High for 1 minute.
Alternatively, without pricking, dip in hot water until soften.
Peel off the skin.

2. Pound all the ingredients.
Ready!

Sambal Belacan Ikan Bilis

My mum makes her Sambal Belacan without Ikan Bilis but the one with Ikan Bilis is a famous version in Sarawak that I adopted from my in laws. Serve this with your favourite Ulam but in the above picture I had it with young mango and boiled Jering. Emmmmmh.... real good appetiser.

Do you know that Jering (Jiringa in English) can prevent diabetes and also good for heart. However, it is advisable to consume in moderate amount due to unpleasant smell and excessive consumption may cause formation of crystal in urination system due to indigestion.

INGREDIENTS:
2 Red Chillies
4-5 Chilli Padi / Bird-Eye Chilli
1 tbsp Belacan (Shrimp paste)
Generous amount of Ikan Bilis (anchovies)
1 tsp Sugar
Salt (optional, Belacan is salty)
Lime juice (optional)

METHOD:
1. Pound all ingredients to mix.
Seasoned to taste.

Sambal Quinin

Of all fruit condiments, this is my number one favourite. My two sons now started to learn to enjoy this as well.

For those who does not know, Quinin is mango-like fruit but has distinct flavour and smell. In my home state they are called "Buah Machang".

INGREDIENTS:
1 Quinin
2 Red Chillies*
5 Chilli Padi* (Bird-eye Chillies)
1 Kasturi lime - optional as some Quinin is sweet and not sour enough
2 tbsp Anchovies* (Ikan Bilis) - washed & drain
1 inch Belacan* (shrimp paste)
Salt

METHOD:
1. Peel & chop Quinin.

2. Pound all ingredients marked * until fine.
Add in salt & chopped Quinin flesh.
Salt to taste.

3. Serve with hot white rice along other dishes.

Chilli Oil

This tasty chilli oil can compliment any dishes, noodle soup, Sayur Lodeh, mee rebus or anything you like. You can also buy the ready made sold in supermarket. I have abundance of chillies and after making chilli sauce earlier I still have some leftover chillies. So I give a try on this and cook the Chilli Oil until dry and crispy. Emmmm... taste good, this one is better than the one I made using dry chillies!

For information this Chilli Oil can keep indefinitely but I don't have to worry about this as we consume a lot of this in my house.

INGREDIENTS:
1 bowl of Fresh Chillies - blend
1 bowl of Oil


METHOD:
1. Heat up oil in a pot (preferably non-stick pot).
Fry blended chilli and continuously stirring until it dries and crispy.
Tip: The heat from oil will continuously cook the chilli after fire is off, so make sure you stop the cooking process earlier.
Cool and drain out excess oil. Some people like to store it together with the oil which helps to prolong the life of the chilli oil.

2. Sterile a jar with boiling water & cool it until dry.
Keep cool chilli oil in the jar and screw lid tightly.

Homemade Chilli Sauce

Homemade chilli sauce has no chemial preservative or flavour added and it is simply chilli sauce!
I have abundance of chillies which I planted as landscape in my garden but I don't know what this type of chilli is called. They are beautiful orangie red and fat in shape but very short. Each tree generously fruits and that's why it is suitable for pot plant or landscape for purpose of decoration. The nursery told me that they are edible so I plucked them before they droop.

It is very easy to make your own chilli sauce and they taste better than my favourite Maggee Garlic Chilli Sauce. Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
1 bowl of Fresh Chillies
3-6 cloves Garlic (depending on amount of chillies)
½ cup Heinz Vinegar
½ cup Sugar
1 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Cornflour + water

METHOD:
1. Blender all the ingredients except cornflour, with some water.
Cook in a pot & boil until thicken.
Balance the taste for sugar, salt & vinegar, adding more whichever is necessary.
Lastly add in cornflour paste to thicken it. Add little more if not thick enough.

2. Rinse a jar with boiling water to sterile it.
Cool & dry before storing the cool chilli sauce.

Chilli Pickles

I have a lot of Bird-Eye chillies at my backyard so I came up with an idea to make pickles to preserve some of them. The recipe is originated by Junjs11 but she used green chillies.

The chilli trees were planted by Lela, my loyal companion from Indonesia, who has been working with me for more than 3 years. She has a lot of spare time so she does gardening works too. Look how her "green hands" really fruiting! So far we have collected more than 1 kg of chillies...!
The recipe is as follows, which I have modified a bit from the original version :

INGREDIENTS:

300-400g Bird-eye or Green Chillies

1 cup Water

1 cup Vinegar

3 tbsp Sugar

2-3 cloves Garlic - each sliced into 2

METHOD:

1. Boil water, vinegar & sugar.

Add in chillies & garlic for just shortwhile & off fire.

Pour into a jar immediately & capped.

2. Pickles will be ready the next day for consumption.

NOTE:

The chilli pickles above can also be used in cooking in place of fresh chillies. For example I blended the chillies with shallots, etc and cook as required. It tastes great!